Many Digital Video Recording (DVR) systems allow users to pause the playing of a program during its broadcast. When the user pauses the play, program content is buffered to memory or another storage device. When the user wishes to resume play, the DVR provides playback of the buffered data from the point where program play was paused, typically at a speed that is faster than that of the broadcast program. In this way, once all the buffered data has been played, the user may “catch up” to the broadcast program for continued play at its normal speed and in real time. However, state-of-the-art systems that provide such capabilities transition instantaneously from fast playback of buffered data to real-time play, having a jarring effect on the viewer.